There are a few routine maintenance chores that must be
performed on a regular basis to keep a PostgreSQL installation running smoothly.
The tasks discussed here are repetitive in nature and can
easily be automated using standard Unix tools such as
cron scripts. But it is the database
administrator's responsibility to set up appropriate scripts,
and to check that they execute successfully.

One obvious maintenance task is creation of backup copies of
the data on a regular schedule. Without a recent backup, you
have no chance of recovery after a catastrophe (disk failure,
fire, mistakenly dropping a critical table, etc). The backup
and recovery mechanisms available in PostgreSQL are discussed at length in
Chapter 9.

The other main category of maintenance task is periodic
"vacuuming" of the database. This
activity is discussed in Section 8.2.

PostgreSQL is
low-maintenance compared to some other database products.
Nonetheless, appropriate attention to these tasks will go far
towards ensuring a pleasant and productive experience with the
system.